Jerry Jones: Randy Gregory is ‘nothing short of brilliant’ but ‘has his demons’

“He’s got gifts. He understands he has gifts, God’s gifts,” Jerry Jones continued. “He’s got great human skills, personality. He is nothing short of brilliant. Certainly he has his demons. A lack of understanding of where he is is not one of them.

“We pray for him. We want him to him to have the kind of career his gifts would allow him to have, which is an exceptional, exceptional football player. He is probably the top rusher in the last two drafts. We need him. We want to get him back.”

Still, the Cowboys are maintaining a tough-love approach with Gregory; in February, after the NFL announced that Gregory would be suspended, coach Jason Garrett spoke in frank terms about expectations for the defensive end.

“We felt like we put a really good structure in place for him to help him overcome it,” Garrett said at the time. “Unfortunately, over the course of the season, he slipped up. He made a mistake. There are no excuses. We’re all disappointed with what that is, but now we have to move forward. He has to move forward, he has to put it behind him.”

Three months later and Gregory appears to be on the right track. And that’s great news because, as Jones points out, the Cowboys’ defense is in desperate need of a playmaker and Gregory could be just the guy for the role.

Earlier this month, the Ravens drafted Keenan Reynolds in the sixth round without knowing whether the former Naval Academy standout would be able to play in 2016.

Now, less than two weeks later, we have our answer.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus told the Dan Patrick Show that Reynolds has been given permission to play in the NFL and that he’ll fulfill his service requirements in the Navy Reserves.

“Keenan Reynolds is one of the finest people that I know,” Mabus told Patrick last week. “He is just a sterling individual. If I’m an NFL coach or GM, he’s the kind of person I want in my locker room.”

Reynolds was a fantastic college player, and finished his career with 88 rushing touchdowns and 4,559 rushing yards — both records for an FBS quarterback. But he hopes to make the Ravens’ roster as a wide receiver.

And while Kaepernick has been present for offseason workouts, he still hasn’t been medically cleared to return to the field.

“He’s still working extremely hard in the rehab part,” Kelly said. “I think people forget he had a thumb injury, a shoulder injury and a knee injury that he’s coming off of. So right now, Blaine is out there, Thad Lewis is with us, and Jeff Driskel are the ones taking the snaps in the offseason program.”